Hen fell into bucket of water - Possible wry neck injury (updated with video+pic)

[Gorm]

Hello.

One of my hens just fell into a 3-4 litre bucket of water. I did not notice it immediately, and it seemed like she managed to keep her head above the surface by pushing with her legs on one side of the bucket and pushing her head to the opposite surface.

At any rate, I ran out as soon as I noticed, picked her up and brought her to my bathroom. There are heating cables in the bathroom floor, but they haven't been used for a long while, so they have to heat up first. In the meantime I've hung up a heating lamp about 60-70 cm (25 inches) above the floor to keep her warm.

Should I do anything else? Should I feed her, try to dry her manually etc?

Secondly, her neck seems to be injured after the accident. It is twisted to the side so that her eye is pointing more or less directly upwards. She is able to twist her neck up and down a fair amount, but she seems to prefer keeping it in the angle previously described.
When I stir or make a sound, she twists it further downwards, before returning to the "normal" angle.

Is it possible that she has aquired torticollis/wryneck? What should I do about it?

She is a faverolle, and I think she is about 3 or 4 years old. She has not been acting strange before this accident.

I was thinking about taking a photo of her, but I don't have any cameras lying around.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I apologize for my somewhat lacking English skills.

 

[froggiesheins]

Hello. 

One of my hens just fell into a 3-4 litre bucket of water. I did not notice it immediately, and it seemed like she managed to keep her head above the surface by pushing with her legs on one side of the bucket and pushing her head to the opposite surface.

At any rate, I ran out as soon as I noticed, picked her up and brought her to my bathroom. There are heating cables in the bathroom floor, but they haven't been used for a long while, so they have to heat up first. In the meantime I've hung up a heating lamp about 60-70 cm (25 inches) above the floor to keep her warm.

Should I do anything else? Should I feed her, try to dry her manually etc?

Secondly, her neck seems to be injured after the accident. It is twisted to the side so that her eye is pointing more or less directly upwards. She is able to twist her neck up and down a fair amount, but she seems to prefer keeping it in the angle previously described.
When I stir or make a sound, she twists it further downwards, before returning to the "normal" angle.

Is it possible that she has aquired torticollis/wryneck? What should I do about it?

She is a faverolle, and I think she is about 3 or 4 years old. She has not been acting strange before this accident. 

I was thinking about taking a photo of her, but I don't have any cameras lying around.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I apologize for my somewhat lacking English skills.

How long ws she in the bucket? Did she swallow alot of water? What is your outside temperature? So far you are doing the right things. Maybe she hurt her neck from struggling...
I will wait for your answers to my questions...

 

[CMV]

We need a photo. Her neck is either dislocated or fractured. Depending on the severity she will either be crooked necked but fine or she will need to be euthanized. A photo will help determine which is more likely.

Use a blowdryer (like for people's hair) on the low setting to dry her out.

 

[Gorm]

I have no idea how long she was in the water or how much she swallowed. I would estimate something around 5-30 minutes. Outside temperature is about 18 celsius, clouded.

I have no possibility of taking a photo at the moment

 

[Gorm]

Video:

 

[froggiesheins]

Poor darling.....Well about all you can do for now is keep her comfortable, make sure she eats and drinks and wait...............the waiting is the hard part...you can put electrolytes in the water and feed high protien treats...alot of tender loving care goes along ways too.

 

[CMV]

I think she may be OK if she can acclimate to her injury. Give her some time. Let her rest away from the flock so nobody picks on her. Let us know how she's doing tomorrow. Don't worry too much of she won't eat today, but definitely encourage her to drink.

 

[Gorm]

She had water available to her, but not food as I wanted to wait for replies to hear what to do about that. I just sat a small bowl of food in front of her, and after half a minute or so she began pecking happily away. She had to twist her neck slightly to eat, and without knowing too much it seemed like that did hurt a little bit (she twisted her head, let it go, twisted again, pecked once, let go, twisted and started pecking several times) but she definitely preferred food over whatever pains she had.

I also turned off the heating lamp, so that it doesn't become too warm. She is all dry now, but her tail feathers are slouching.

 

[leadwolf1]

Keep her warm, dry and quiet...maybe a darkened, calm place. She may be a little shocky and may need some time to recover. If she is eating, that is great Maybe a little baby aspirin in her water to help with pain...or some vitamins/electrolytes to help with the shock.

By the way, your English skills are excellent!!!

 

[Gorm]

Thanks, and thanks for the replies

I just heard some strange noises from the bathroom (it's 10:30 pm here at the moment) and when I went in she was lying almost upside down beside the toilet, with her wings out.

It seems probable that she wanted to perch on the toilet, but slipped or something like that. She absolutely loves perching on every object "perchable", so it wouldn't be surprising.

I guess it's good that she feels strong enough to fly about the bathroom, but to avoid further injuries I have but her in a plastic "box" with a grid on top. I've also put her food and water in it, and placed a towel in the bottom. Would you recommend to check in on her throughout the night, to make sure she hasn't tried to do anything out of the ordinary, or should I just let her stay in it and go to sleep?